When Maha al-Sudairi's representative arrived at a Paris boutique bearing a vast order for top-of-the-range lingerie, payment to follow, the owner did not hesitate.

As well as being a valued customer for eight years, the Saudi princess is married to Naif bin Abdulaziz, the country's interior minister and one of the most senior members of a royal family not known for struggling to pay bills, even ones for €70,000 (£60,000) in undergarments.

But, more than a year later, Jamila Boushaba, who runs the O Caprices De Lili store, says she is still waiting for her money – as, it is reported, are a whole series of luxury shops and hotels dotted around the French capital's most exclusive arrondissements.

The princess's creditors reportedly also include the fashion chain Dior, jewellery outlets Chaumet and Victoria Casal, and at least one luxury hotel. She is currently holed up inside a suite at the George V, one of Paris's finest hotels, owned by her nephew, Prince Alwaleed.

The story emerged after Boushaba, frustrated at endless broken promises for payment, went to the press to try to shame her customer into settling her bill. The boutique, one of the most upmarket lingerie shops in Paris, is opposite the George V and was regularly frequented by Sudairi and her family. "She was a customer for eight years, and a very good customer. She always paid on time," Boushaba told the Guardian.

The problems reportedly began a day after the princess's staff removed the dozens of bags of undergarments to the George V on 1 June last year. "I went to the hotel the next day to collect the payment, as usual. I was kept waiting for hours and then told they would drop it into the shop the next day. I waited and they never came," added Boushaba.

Thus began weeks of calls to the princess's suite ("It was always, 'Tomorrow, we'll pay tomorrow'") before Boushaba managed to see the Saudi ambassador, who said he could do nothing. She then talked her way into an audience with a visiting envoy from the Saudi royal family. The response? "He just told me, 'I'm afraid we can't go around settling bills for the princess's knickers.'"

With bailiffs' letters ignored – the princess enjoys diplomatic immunity – Boushaba says she is running out of options: "It's €70,000. It's nothing to them but it's a lot of money to me. We're not Chanel, we're not one of the big chains. There's just one shop, me and two members of staff. It's put me in big trouble.

"When I called last one of her staff asked why I went to the media. I said it was to get my money. He replied: 'What, you've caused all this trouble and you still want your money?'"

According to French newspapers, up to 30 businesses are in the same boat, among them the sumptuous Hotel Crillon, where the princess reportedly based herself before decamping, bill unpaid, to the George V. The Crillon refused to comment.

Another disgruntled shopowner is Jacky Giami, proprietor of Key Largo, which sells extremely upmarket leisure clothes such as €600 jogging trousers. After the princess's relatives stripped his shop of €140,000 of stock – 7% of his annual turnover – and then failed to pay the bill, Giami spends his days waiting at the bar of the George V in the hope of seeing a member of her entourage to confront.

"We know the family well – they're in Paris a lot. It's not the kind of customer where you ask for a deposit, or to see a piece of identity," he told Le Parisien.

Neither the princess nor the Saudi embassy in Paris could be reached for comment.